why do I need the scale? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

40poundsago · 06-07-2006, 11:16 AM

So why do I have this addiction to the scale!!

I used to be so bad, stepping on it everytime I went to the bathroom, and now I can pretty much stay off the one at home, but the one at the gym calls my name! I think I stepped on it 3 times this morning. and guess what it told me the same thing everytime.

I really wanted to avoid it till the 21 of June. but I guess I can't do it. I can't wait to do my measurements that day, I guess I do still have something to look forward to.

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest, I am ust starting to get frustrated with myself.

JayEll · 06-07-2006, 04:34 PM

Oh gosh, you're just feeling so much ANTICIPATION!!! I sometimes get into weighing too much--or I used to. Now I just weigh once when I go do my workout, and that's it. It's much easier that way, and I see more of a trend.

Keep a going!

Jay

mudbugs · 06-07-2006, 06:06 PM

You NEEEED the scale because maybe, if you are like me, there is just a little tiny chance, that the scale is going to show like a 4 lb. weight loss since yesterday. At least that is why I need to get on the scale every 6 hours. It disappoints me 99.9% of the time, but there is always that little itsy bitsy chance that it is going to show a sudden massive weight loss --- and I like that RUSH.

I think one time I got on the scale and it showed I had lost 3.6 lbs. ----gone! since the day before. I still CLING to that one weigh-in. It has never ever happened again, but hey, you know -- it COULD happen again!! It really ruined me. LOL

LLV · 06-07-2006, 06:13 PM

When I first started, I used to weigh myself every morning. Then I got tired of being a damn slave to the thing, so I picked it up and put it in the closet and left it there and started weighing once a week instead.

Now I usually only weigh about twice a month.

nicolbw · 06-07-2006, 06:52 PM

I used to make excuses to weigh myself everyday. Sometimes it was twice a day. But then I stopped doing it more than once a day because what does it matter what you weigh any other time of the day? Then I read something online that actually got to me. I'm sure I've seen it before, but for some reason it really hit me this time. Weighing yourself more than once a week is crazy. Crazy as in you need to go see a doctor and get on medication. I realized I was doing the same thing every day and seeing the same results.

I love seeing that big drop, but it just doesn't happen very often within a day's time. So why not wait a week and get that rush?

Plus I read another website that talked about how our body's are mostly water. So our day to day weight fluxuations show you how much water is in our bodies for that day. But to see a trend in fat loss we need to look at it over time.

Weight loss is a long journey, not a short one. It's one that will take time and weighing everyday will not get us there any faster.

I personally have stopped weighing every single day. I'm down to about 3-4 times a week and hope to get down to once a week or less. My healthy lifestyle is one that I want to keep forever. So it doesn't matter what I weigh today or tomorrow. I know I'll get to my goal. Plus the kicker for me is that I'd been on a 3 month plateau. I weighed myself every single day. Then when I finally stopped weighing myself so much, I started losing again. Maybe it's the whole "watched pot" syndrome.

mudbugs · 06-07-2006, 07:20 PM

ChefBran, bless your heart--you have the patience to wait a week for that rush. I am a ol' hippie from the '60's. I take any chance I can get to get that rush, so I weigh myself constantly...in search of that "perfect wave"

Seriously, I remember when I started this "diet"in March.... I started out by starving myself for two loooong miserable weeks, and I waited & waited to weigh myself, and after 14 days, I finally could not wait to get on that scale, thinking I HAD to have lost at least 20 lbs. and I had lost about an OUNCE. I wanted to die. I don't ever want to face that feeling again, so I weigh myself all the time, because you never know.......

amberzade · 06-07-2006, 08:28 PM

I guess you can't stay off of it because you want to see results from what you're doing. Which seems pretty natural to me.

I don't even own a scale but when I go somewhere where there IS a scale ... it's often really hard to stay off it.

BlueToBlue · 06-07-2006, 11:05 PM

I weigh myself twice a day and I consider that to be showing a great deal of restraint! I work out of my home, so if I wanted to I could weigh myself every hour (and I practically was when I started this diet), but I force myself to limit it to twice a day.

The morning weigh-in is because that is always when my weight is at its lowest. The evening weigh-in is so the I am prepared for what my weight will be in morning. If I haven't lost weight (or, god forbid, have gained weight), I find its best to be prepared for that.

I've heard that weighing yourself once a week is a good idea, but I just can't do it. I have to know where I'm at weight-wise every day. The day-to-day fluctuations (or lack thereof) can be frustrating, but if I waited a week I would have so much hope and anticipation built up that it would be far to overwhelming and discouraging if it turned out that I hadn't lost or had gained.

lilybelle · 06-07-2006, 11:18 PM

I have weighed just once or twice a week since starting this lifestyle change. It is hard to make myself stay off the scale. The times I weighed too soon were usually the times I was disappointed. I am getting closer to goal and waiting to weigh is more torture now. I plan to weigh twice weekly once I hit maintenance so I can catch it early if I start to gain.

aguafresca · 06-08-2006, 01:00 AM

First days of weight loss program:

I weighed my self twice a day

The next week:

Once a day

The second week:

Twice a week

Now:

Hardly step on the scale!

ZedAus · 06-08-2006, 04:16 AM

Brandi - I am disappointed that you would say that you read that people who weigh every day are crazy... as in needing medication 'crazy'. Everyone is different and everyone copes in a different way.

I have actually read that a number of people who have lost the weight and KEPT it off, weigh daily. I personally weigh daily, so I think that this information is great, but I know that some people weigh weekly, or even less often. So, I never say that the way I read about is the best way. It is just ONE way. I would never say that people who didn't weigh daily were 'insane'.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but this really struck a cord with me. I felt as though you were saying I was crazy, when I just do what works best for me. I weigh daily to keep track of the fluctuations and to learn about my body... what is does and when. I think that we should be more understanding of individual differences.

Just my 2c worth.

Zelma

2frustrated · 06-08-2006, 04:46 AM

Zelma, that's in Thin For Life isn't it? And numerous studies site that people who don't regain their weight weigh every day.

But horses for courses, if you feel like you're going crazy stepping on the scale every day, then put it away. But if you have a healthy attitude to that daily weigh in and it keeps you on track then fine.

Personally I weigh every day, but I think I need to put my scales away since they're depressing me at the moment!

mudbugs · 06-08-2006, 07:21 AM

Also, weighing every day or even ten times a day gives you a better understanding of how your weight DOES fluctuate...You can tell from frequent weighing that 2 lbs up one morning on the scale is not a reason to panic...it may very well be that when you weigh yourself in 5 or 6 hours those 2 lbs are gone. JMHO

kaplods · 06-08-2006, 07:53 AM

Crazy? I don't think how often you weigh is nearly as important as your attitude and expectations. Once a week can be "crazy" if your self-worth and enjoyment of life is wrapped up in what the scale says. For myself, I tend to lose more when I weigh daily, because I am very prone to binging. Weighing daily seems to help me stay on track better, especially over the weekend. It has also helped me realize that weight fluctuations are completely normal and not always tied directly to calories.

Misti in Seattle · 06-08-2006, 08:26 AM

I weigh every day because I WANT to know my progress and yes, even lack of it. It's certainly not "crazy" and not an obsession for me. And I too have read just recently that the majority of people who lose weight and keep it off weigh daily. That's certainly not to say (IMO) that it is the "recommended" or only way to do it as I think we are all different and what works best for us is fine. But putting down someone else's method because YOU don't like it -- and even calling them crazy -- is going a bit far IMO.

Just because you seem to be obsessed with the scale and what it says doesn't mean we are... you get a "rush" from seeing your weight? And you "hope" to get down to weighing once a week? For me it is not an issue of self-control... I tried weighing once a week and didn't like it. I want to know how I am doing. That's crazy? Thanks but I'll pass on the medications.

Oh... and FWIW I AM under a doctor's supervision with my plan... now... she didn't ask me how often I weigh myself... but she DID tell me she is proud of me for my success!!